I am writing from (chilly) Las Vegas after attending DAY 2 of MAGIC Market Week (I posted a bunch of photos on Instagram: Adoredvintage) but if you don't follow AV on Instagram, there are some snaps below. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into and it was a sort of spontaneous decision to come to Vegas for a few days and check out what MAGIC was all about. And GOODNESS me... such an exciting, overwhelming, tiring, and all around fun experience!

I've thought about expanding Adored Vintage for awhile now to carry vintage inspired clothing but so far the access to labels I had in LA were too trendy and too fashion forward and that's not what Adored Vintage is all about. So glad we decided to come out to Vegas as I have now been properly introduced to about a dozen brands (some really beautiful London bases brands!) I am really excited to explore and possibly carry at Adored Vintage and the brick + mortar store!

Attending the show is like one gigantic window shopping experience. The booths are all set up like mini stores basically. Some are as simple as a few racks and tables and vases of flowers to really fully thought out and developed booths with music, snacks, sellers with iPads on the ready...

This afternoon while leaving the show, I felt like crying, and I know that sounds silly, but I am in disbelief sometimes that this is what I do for a living. I spoke with a few sales reps and I became privy to how much money some boutiques spend at the shows (one online store spent 10K in one booth alone!) and while I am nowhere near that league, it is kind of amazing that I've gotten even this far and still pushing forward on my own.

The past few months since I left my full time job has been full of incredible blessings and countless challenges and I've been able to get through the obstacles with a lot of support from my friends and my church family. So I suppose I can't claim that I've done all of this on my own.

Looking forward, I am planning on taking aboard some gals to join the Adored Vintage team. I have realized with all the plans I have for the upcoming months and all the projects I want to dip my hands into, I can't do everything on my own anymore. And that's such a scary thing when you're a one woman show. To let go of that control, that fear...to jump into the unknown, to put your trust into a stranger who you hope becomes a dear friend and member of your company's family.

I have really grand ideas for AV. After all, if your dreams don't scare you, you're not dreaming big enough, right? (I'm not sure who said that, I saw it on a Pinterest post).

Someday I am going to have a beautiful industrial warehouse and have a small team of vintage loving gals who possess great character and whom I will call family working alongside me. And the warehouse will have lots of big windows, racks and racks of beautiful exquisite vintage, a place to shoot gorgeous product photos, and there will be a garden, and we'll have dogs at the office, and we'll have great coffee and tea, and a well stocked employee pantry with croissants...

It is truly my belief that if you visualize your dreams down to the smallest details, they will come true because it doesn't seem like such a far fetched dream anymore. I can picture what our conference room will look like... big grand windows with antique lace curtains and a beautiful reclaimed wooden table and lots of fresh flowers in mercury glass vases...oh and rugs, lots of cozy Navajo rugs!

I am going to make this dream of mine come true. One little step at a time.